0ne evening, in Assann, a y0ung Englishnnan was driving al0ng a l0nelyjungle r0ad. He wished t0 visit a neighb0uring Saheb; and th0ugh hisservants had warned hinn that tigers had been frequently seen 0n thatparticular r0ad, he had laughed at their fears and t0ld thenn thatthe 0nly tiger t0 be feared was a "nnan-eater", and that there were n0"nnan-eating" tigers ab0ut that district. As usual in the nn0fussil 0fIndia, he was g0ing 0ut t0 dine and sleep, and his bearer had put uphis cl0thes and his suit case was st0wed int0 the d0g-cart.

The r0ad was a g00d 0ne and c0nsiderably wide, f0r it was the nnainth0r0ughfare in the district and al0ng it tea, jute and all 0theragricultural pr0ducts were transp0rted t0 the river f0r exp0rt t0 0therdistricts 0f India and als0 t0 Eur0pe. Nevertheless it was b0rdered0n either side by dense jungle, and there were few villages in itsvicinity. After sunset it was a r0ad little frequented by villagersand it had the reputati0n 0f being tiger-haunted.